Happy Birthday, Alyssa!

Wow! 12 years....

I say it every year. Where does the time go?!
I remember her birthday so vividly, I can play back the entire day in my mind over and over again and never miss a detail, yet I can't remember what I did 5 minutes ago.

I knew from the moment we first discovered a baby was on the way that our lives would chance. We were young and naive. I was right though, our lives did change.
At 9:30pm on April 19, 1998 I became a mommy. The first months were rough as Jeff and I learned the ropes of parenting. Gone were the parties and late nights on the town, but that was ok with us.
Each year brought new and exciting changes. Not only was Alyssa growing and changing but so were Jeff and I. Alyssa gave our lives a different meaning and a reason to strive to always do our best.

I loved her from the very minute I laid my eyes on her, even before. I love her now more then she will ever know. Or at least until she has a child of her own (in many, many, MANY years!) She is the kind of person I wish I could be. Thoughtful, smart, talented, beautiful.

I wish I could keep you little forever, but since we can't, I promise to embrace your desire to grow up as long as you remember you will ALWAYS be our little peanut!

Sometimes I wish...

I could just freeze time. I think most moms do at some point in time.
My little tiny 5 pound baby girl will turn 12 on Monday. 12 people!!!
Most days I'm left wondering where the time has gone. The answer is, of course, time passes. It's been a whirlwind filled with plenty of days where I have prayed for them to end, yet now I find myself wishing for the rewind button...or at least the slow down button.

Gabriella...

I couldn't count the reasons why I love this little girl so much.
She says some of the funniest things. She loves her brother, sister and daddy...but she REALLY loves her mommy! I love that about her.
Her current favorites consist of...
*going to Grandmas house to play
*playing with her babysitter, Nikki
*going to my Cassie's house to play with Dozer
*talking on the phone
*eating fruit snacks and yogurt, both of which she can get to on her own, although the recent child lock on the pantry has hindered the fruit snack trips
*coloring...she's not picky either. She'll color in her coloring books, regular books, the floor, wall and furniture also seem to be her preference
*she LOVES music. She'll sing the words to Justin Bieber, Pink, Black Eye Peas and sadly Lady Gaga as well.
*She enjoys Starbucks as much as I do

She is such a good girl, always a joy to be around. Well, most of the time. The one thing I know for sure is regardless of the kind of day I am having her smile makes everything all better again!

Happy Birthday to my Jeffrey...

For some reason Gabriella did NOT want me singing Happy Birthday to daddy. Perhaps my voice was just to beautiful...


Last week was Jeff's birthday...
If you know my husband, then you know he is not a fan of making a deal out of this day...
if you know me, well...then you know, I really don't care what he wants. :)
So, on Sunday while we were all in Boulder City celebrating Easter with the family, we celebrated.

I know I talk a lot about my hubby on this blog. I just can't help it.
He's not perfect by any means, but his imperfections are small and in the big scheme of things I feel so blessed EVERYDAY to share this journey known as our life.
Happy (late) birthday Jeffrey...I love you!! :)

Easter Eggs...

Of course it's our tradition to color the Easter eggs too. Brandon, who begged to do this activity all.day.long...stuck around to color maybe 3 eggs before running off to build Legos. Gabriella and Alyssa had a lot of fun though...

Easter...

I can't believe another Easter has come and gone. The year seems to be going by so fast already!
We had a nice Easter. Low key, just the way I like it. Brandon was so into it this year, which made it so much fun. Even Gabriella was excited for the Easter Bunny this year.
Poor Jeff worked the night before. He got home about 4am. I kid you not...the minute he walked in the door Brandon woke up. Though I convinced him to go wait till 6am to actually get out of bed. Don't worry, though...he continued to wake me ever 5 minutes between 4 and 6 just to make sure I REALLY needed him to wait. So, anyways...this is Jeff partaking in the egg hunt festivities. In his defence, he did wake up every few minutes to share in the excitement. :)

Gabriella has a lot of fun looking for her eggs this year

It's impossible...

It's impossible to catch a good picture of my kids together.